Loving Someone
by intravenes
Summary: Modern College AU: Piper Chapman is a nineteen year-old Undergraduate student at Smith College, who hopes to start a fresh and interesting life full of knowledge and excitement away from home. Even though she's sure she will love education and learning, Piper has to admit that her favourite module might just have more to do with her new tutor than the subject itself.
Modern College AU: Piper Chapman is a nineteen year-old Undergraduate Estudent at Smith College, who hopes to start a fresh and interesting life full of knowledge and excitement away from home. Even though she's sure she will love education and learning, Piper admits that her favourite module might just have more to do with her new tutor than the subject itself.

Hello there and welcome to my first Piper/Alex story ever and my first attempt at creative writing in a looong time.

The idea for this came from personal experience, something I just cannot seem to shake off my shoulders and out of my head, so this is a result of sleepless nights and weird thoughts. It starts off in September, Piper's first undergraduate year, and I'm not sure where it'll go but bare with me.

Thoughts and reviews are always welcome and encouraged.

I do not own any of the characters, only the storyline.

Hope you enjoy.

* * *

It is the twenty-ninth of September when she first lays eyes on her.

Piper Chapman, an Undergraduate English Literature student at Smith, is about to go to her first lectures. She's both nervous and excited – she'd wanted to study this for years; even though her parents weren't too happy about her choice (they'd hoped she would pursue their dream of Law studies), Piper was practically shaking in anticipation.

She moved to her new, re-furbished campus flat a few weeks before the classes even started. She wanted out: away from her family, set rules, faked smiles and uncalled-for pleasantries with people she had no interest in communicating with, out of her life. Her 'old life', she reminded herself. College was the perfect environment for a fresh start. New friends, new interests, new Piper.

She met her roommate – a very excited and chatty brunette named Polly Harper – after a couple of days. Polly moved in just in time for fresher's week - "The best fucking week in every student's life!" - as she put it. Piper gave her a shy smile in response, confirming that it sounded like loads of fun and that she'll definitely join in, something she wasn't too sure of yet, if she were completely honest.

 _Old Piper wouldn't go. She'd stay in her room and read. Study._

 _You're_ not _that Piper anymore._

Polly was fun to hang out with and after a few hours of necessary introductions and awkward silences, they became fast friends. The brunette had been far more experienced in every life situation possible – she'd dated loads of guys in the past, went to parties, got wasted, tried drugs but "didn't like them so she was definitely not hooked, just in case it made Piper worry". It didn't. The blonde girl listened to her roommate's stories, trying to capture every word and emotion, imagining what it would be like if they were her own. Sure, she'd been drunk a few times (and all of them ended in swearing she'd 'never drink again' the next morning), made out with cute guys in the darkest corners of clubs and birthday parties, but her first – and current – serious boyfriend was the only 'real' experience she ever had. And now, with her moving away to Smith and Larry staying in his home-state, they were doomed to try and stick with a sad and fairly platonic long-distance relationship.

"That never works out, though." Polly remarked once, but Piper tried to stay immune to those types of comments. She was sure that with enough love and trust, anything's possible.

 _Right?.._

What scared her was that she wasn't even sure what she felt for him anymore. It used to be love, she's almost certain of it, yet for the past few months something's been off. Larry was the same-old sweet and generous guy, as always, but Piper felt different, distant, indifferent even. As if she'd suddenly changed. Nothing happened. She just stopped feeling. That's why moving to another part of the country wasn't too difficult. Why new faces were more than welcoming and the fresh yet sickly sweet sometimes, perfume and vodka sour filled scent of her new dorm room was so comforting. Because when she wasn't with him, he didn't really exist. She could do anything she wanted. Away from her strict parents, away from Larry. Away from being dependant. Piper felt a lifting sense of freedom and it made her happy.

It did bring new responsibilities, however; after promising herself that she couldn't, wouldn't, ask her parents for any financial help, the blonde student printed a handful of edited CVs and walked around the neighbourhood, hoping to find a job that would pay.

The search wasn't too long. After bullshitting her way through an uncomfortable interview, Piper became an official 'waitress in training' in one of the local Italian restaurants. Pizza, pasta and bread – what could be difficult about serving the most cliché meals of all time?

"How are your pastas? Is your carbonara creamy enough? Would you like some ciabatta with olive oil? Enjoy!" – would become her most-said sentences while working. Forcing a smile, pretending to like any of the food being served to people: that's how her evenings went. Piper wasn't enjoying this part of her life but she tried hard and so far succeeded in making herself believe it was worth it.

After a week of work came the long-awaited fresher's week and Polly was jumping around with excitement Piper had never seen in her nineteen years of living:

"It's gonna be so great, I planned everything! We're going to 'Player's' Monday night, an underground gig on Tuesday, pre-drinking at Pete's, of course, so we're drunk enough when we get there. Then Wednesday, oh, right! Wednesday's the night of Sam's onesie party so make sure you have that, or you won't get in, oh and on Thursday we'll…" was all Piper heard all weekend.

She developed a habit of nodding and giving a short "yeah, can't wait" every few minutes as if she were still listening. She was excited, honestly, but hearing about 'going down with new hot guys' every evening (which was, it seemed, Polly's main reason for going anywhere that week) made her sad and angry and confused. Piper wasn't in the mood for watching her friend 'getting it on' while she herself wasn't even sure about her current relationship status. Although she felt in her bones that one could try and call her state, it was neither a happy nor satisfying one.

The week went by quickly. Those seven days of blissful drunkenness and never-ending feelings of floating somewhere high were just what the new students needed before the stress of College registration and week one of their autumn semester.

Piper braced herself and tried to survive the massive queues at each and every registration desk, important choices that had to be made in a matter of minutes before being told that 'time's up, other students are waiting' and official meetings with tutors and new people in general. By the end of registration week, the blonde girl felt beat. All she wanted to do was binge-watch series on Netflix with Polly and eat popcorn and drink cheap(ish) wine and just stop caring for a moment. That's what she did.

Piper's state of mind changed when her modules started. She bought three different notebooks, marked them all by codes of each of her subjects, stocked up on pens and walked all the way to one of her College buildings for her first-ever sessions in High Education. She was thrilled to find out that her tutors were mainly communicative and interesting professionals, interested in inspiring their students with the content given and Piper found herself in a state of happiness and productiveness – she felt like she was actually doing, learning something. Like she had a _purpose_.

Her first Introduction to Writing Prose lecture didn't come until Tuesday. She woke up early that morning, took a shower, ate a quick breakfast and, after quickly applying mascara, half-ran to college. It took place in lecture theatre two, one of the largest spaces in the building, and Piper slumped into one of the middle-section seats, neither too close nor too far, red in the face and out of breath from almost sprinting to class. She took out her black leather notebook – the nicest one she'd bought – and scribbled the date: 29th of September. The girl looked at her phone – it was almost three in the afternoon and precisely one minute later, she heard a set of heels enter the room.

Piper looked lifted her eyes off the desk and that's when she first saw her.

"Hello students!" a raspy yet soft voice rang through the room, "Welcome to your first Introduction to Writing Prose lecture. I'm Dr. Alex Vause and I will be your tutor for the next twelve weeks."

The blonde's blue eyes found contact with the tutor's green ones and for a moment Piper's heart stopped.

Alex Vause was _beautiful_.

And Piper Chapman was suddenly mesmerised.

* * *

This is a fairly short introduction/prologue of some sorts. Let me know what you think.

Ta-ta for now.

 _x_


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